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LITTLE  STORIES 
OF  SUCCESS 

NATIONAL  CAMPAIGN 
LAYMEN’S  MISSIONARY 
MOVEMENT 


AMmiCANBAEIIST...MIJ_SLQNARYU^^^^^^ 

FORD  BUILDING,  BOSTON,  MASS. 


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Uiii 


LITTLE  STORIES  OF  SUCCESS 

^  The  Laymen^ s  Missionary  Movement  Campaign  is 
arresting  the  attention  of  Christendom  and  arousing  the 
genuine  manhood  that  is  within  the  Church,  Real  men, 
men  of  action,  men  who  love  to  grapple  with  things  that 
test  their  powers  to  the  limit  are  rallying  hy  thousands  to 
the  support  of  the  greatest  movement  of  the  age. 

^  The  remarkable  results  already  achieved  are  eloquently 
prophetic  of  what  may  he  expected.  The  enlistment  of 
men  in  behalf  of  the  missionary  enterprise  is  notable. 
The  pledges  of  financial  support  already  made  are  power¬ 
ful  witnesses  of  the  thoughts  and  purposes  that  are  formed 
in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  men. 

^  The  Baptist  men  of  the  cities  in  which  conventions 
have  thus  far  been  held  have  begun  to  do  and  will  complete 
the  doing  of  big  things.  The  purpose  of  this  pamphlet  is 
to  let  other  Baptist  men  know  what  their  fellows  are  at¬ 
tempting.  These  little  stories  of  success  are  large  with 
possibilities.  Read,  then  go  and  do  likewise. 


NEW 

INSPIRATION 

I  wish  to  inform  you  that  for  many  years  I  have  been  deeply  interested 
in  Missions,  both  home  and  foreign  and  as  you  have  said,  I  was  one  of 
the  delegates  to  the  Laymen’s  Missionary  Convention  in  Providence  and 
with  many  others  received  new  inspiration.  .  .  Since  then  I  have  been 
made  chairman  of  the  Men’s  Missionary  Committee  of  our  church,  and 
the  first  thing  that  we  did  was  to  have  about  twenty-four  of  our  men  meet 
at  a  little  spread  and  after  talks  by  the  members  of  the  committee  we 
distributed  cards  for  the  men  to  take  home,  pray  over  and  sign  as  the  Lord 
might  direct.  The  collector  tells  me  that  last  Sunday  showed  new  and 
increased  offerings  of  $1.59  which  \vill  mean  over  $82  for  the  year.  Next 
week  we  plan  to  have  another  group  of  men  meet  in  the  same  manner, 
and  we  hope  for  more  results. — ^Archibald  Rankin,  Pawtucket,  R.  I. 

3 


“NEVER  HEARD 
ANYTHING  LIKE  IT” 

The  great  wave  of  missionary  enthusiasm  that  is  sweeping  over  the 
land  in  connection  with  the  Laymen’s  Missionary  Movement  struck 
Cleveland  hard.  Never  before  has  the  city  been  so  stirred  up  religiously. 
It  was  a  great  sight  to  see  nearly  1,500  men  moving  down  street  together 
for  the  banquet  in  the  largest  building  in  the  city.  This  was  filled  to  its 
utmost  capacity,  and  overflow  tables  had  to  be  spread  in  nearby  hotels  to 
accommodate  those  who  had  secured  tickets.  Exactly  1,462  men  were 
seated  at  this  magnificent  gathering,  which  Mr.  Campbell  White  declared 
the  greatest  he  had  yet  attended,  and  believed  that  nothing  equal  to  it  has 
taken  place  in  the  history  of  missionary  endeavor.  The  addresses  were 
of  a  very  high  order,  Mr.  White  giving  all  of  them  a  great  climax  in  one  of 
his  masterly  messages.  “It  was  great,”  was  heard  on  every  hand  as  the 
men  filed  out.  The  high  spiritual  pitch  the  meeting  reached  may  be 
judged  by  one  significant  act.  The  caterer,  not  a  Christian  man,  who  had 
listened  to  the  addresses  while  waiting  for  a  chance  to  take  care  of  the 
dishes  left  over,  was  so  moved  by  what  he  had  seen  and  heard,  he  presented 
the  committee  with  $100,  stating  that  he  had  never  heard  anything  like 
it,  and  if  that  was  the  aim  of  the  meeting  he  wanted  to  have  a  share  in 
it.  If  “money  talks,”  then  that  night  it  talked  eloquently  in  that  offer¬ 
ing  of  a  man  not  committed  to  the  Christian  life  at  all.  The  Baptists, 
we  are  happy  to  say,  were  not  behind  in  this  splendid  meeting,  but  had  a 
lead  on  all  the  other  denominations.  Although  we  are  fourth  on  the  list 
as  regards  numerical  strength,  we  managed,  much  to  the  credit  of  Rev. 
C.  A.  Brooks,  our  efficient  superintendent  of  City  Missions,  to  head  the 
list,  having  a  close  competitor  in  the  Presbyterians.  Active  efforts 
are  being  made  in  all  the  churches  to  meet  the  apportionments  assigned, 
and  the  city  churches  will  endeavor  to  raise  $160,000  for  missions  this 
year,  instead  of  $55,000,  which  was  last  year’s  total.  The  Baptists  are 
pledged  for  $16,000,  and  it  looks  as  if  it  will  be  forthcoming.  The  chair¬ 
man  of  the  Baptist  contingent,  Mr.  Ambrose  Swasey,  is  leading  off  well. 
He  recently  banqueted  the  Baptist  pastors  and  a  representative  layman 
from  each  church  at  the  Hotel  EucHd,  when  plans  were  laid  for  the  work. 
— ^Rev  Llewellyn  Brown,  Cleveland  Letter  in  New  York  Examiner. 


4 


CATCHING  THE 
MISSIONARY  VISION 


As  a  result  of  the  Laymen’s  Convention  two  or  three  of  our  men  have 
begun  to  catch  the  missionary  vision.  I  have  appointed  a  missionary 
committee  comprising  these  men  and  we  are  planning  to  follow  up  the 
spirit  and  suggestions  of  the  Convention  by  holding  in  our  church  a  supper 
for  men  similar  to  the  one  in  Philadelphia  on  November  18,  only  on  a 
smaller  scale.  As  we  can  draw  only  on  our  male  membership  and  other 
adherents,  we  cannot  expect  more  than  fifty  men  but  we  aim  to  make  the 
meeting  intensive,  if  not  extensive,  and  by  this  means  to  reach  our  entire 
local  constituency.  We  aim  to  follow  up  this  supper  immediately  with  an 
every-member  canvass. — Rev.  E.  W.  Rumsey,  North  Wales,  Pa. 


MORE  THAN 
ASKED  FOR 

In  another  case,  that  of  the  First  Church,  Chester,  whose  pastor  took 
seven  of  his  leading  men  to  the  opening  meeting  of  the  Convention,  and 
most  of  whom  were  present  off  and  on  through  the  Convention,  the  trus¬ 
tees  have  decided  that  they  would  raise  the  Budget,  which  they,  them¬ 
selves,  fixed  at  a  larger  sum  than  had  been  suggested  to  them  by  our  State 
Committees,  and  that  if  there  should  be  any  shortage  toward  the  end  of 
the  year,  that  shortage  would  be  put  in  along  with  any  deficit  for  current 
expenses,  and  the  whole  amount  raised.  So  that  we  can  absolutely  count 
on  the  advanced  Budget.  While  this  affects  foreign  missions  chiefly,  all 
of  the  other  forms  of  our  missionary  work  will  profit  to  a  very  considerable 
extent. — ^Rev.  F.  S.  Dobbins,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


5 


ENJOYING 
A  NEW  SENSATION 


In  reply  to  your  inquiry  about  the  recent  Laymen’s  Missionary  Con¬ 
ference,  I  would  say  that  I  am  enjoying  a  new  sensation;  i.e.,  I  am 
witnessing  the  enthusiastic  assumption  of  all  local  and  missionary  re¬ 
sponsibilities  by  the  men  of  my  church. 

Last  Friday  the  Finance  Committee,  through  its  chairman,  called  the 
Missionary  Committees  into  conference  and  told  the  pastor  that  he  was 
not  wanted,  that  they  would  Like  to  see  what  they  could  do  without  him. 

They  voted  to  increase  the  local  budget  fifty  per  cent  and  the  missions 
budget  sixty-six  per  cent  over  the  regular  budget  request.  They  appointed 
a  committee  of  twenty-five  to  canvass  the  entire  membership  immediately, 
and  we  are  planning  our  prayer  meeting  for  a  rousing  Laymen’s  program. 

The  sermon  next  Sunday  morning  will  be  on  “Blessedness  by  Giv¬ 
ing”  as  a  text,  the  ninth  Beatitude — “It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to 
receive.”  This  text,  in  my  judgment,  is  the  last  word  on  the  whole  sub¬ 
ject  of  stewardship.  Following  that  is  the  banquet  to  the  men  of  our  con¬ 
gregation  by  our  Baptist  Brotherhood  next  week  Tuesday,  when  our 
delegates  to  the  Convention  will  put  it  up  to  the  men  man-fashion. 

This  noble  old  missionary  church  is  proving  that  the  giving  church  is 
the  living  church.  Your  question  about  the  apportionment  is  superfluous. 
Same  with  questions  about  a  lot  of  other  old  problems  now  vanished  in 
the  heat  of  this  new  enthusiasm. 

The  meetings  were  a  great  help  to  all  the  churches,  and  I  believe 
the  permanent  good  resulting  will  exceed  some  more  spectacular  and 
costly  meetings  of  the  past. — H.  J.  White,  D.D.,  Hartford,  Conn. 


“THE  FIRE  OF 
MISSIONARY  ENTHUSIASM 


99 


My  impression  is  that  all  the  churches  will  increase  their  offerings 
to  all  the  general  missionary  organizations.  The  men  in  nearly  all  our 
churches  have  shown  a  greater  interest  in  missionary  affairs  than  I  have 
ever  known,  and  this  is  attributable  to  the  Men’s  Movement  almost 
entirely.  I  shall  be  much  disappointed  if  we  do  not  see  a  great  increase 
in  giving  in  all  our  churches.  If  any  church  fails,  it  will  be  because  of 
indifference  on  the  part  of  the  pastor,  or  because  of  some  remarkable 
conditions  in  the  local  church. 

As  to  our  church,  we  have  adopted  the  duplex  envelope  plan,  and 
already  have  $22  a  week,  or  $1,144  for  the  year,  subscribed,  and  we  have 
not  seen  more  than  half  our  members.  I  think  I  can  confidently  promise 
that  we  shall  raise  upwards  of  $2,000  for  all  missionary  purposes.  This 
includes  our  offering  to  the  city  mission  society.  Of  the  amount  we  expect 
to  give  $750  to  the  Foreign  Mission  Society.  Our  gifts  will  be  doubled, 
and  I  hope  they  may  be  trebled. 

My  observation  teaches  plainly  that  the  entire  matter  of  raising 
missionary  money  depends  primarily  on  the  pastor,  and,  next  in  import¬ 
ance,  to  a  few  leading  spirits  in  the  church,  who  have  caught  the  fire  of 
missionary  enthusiasm.  One  man  of  spirit  and  zeal  will  add  many 
hundreds  of  dollars  to  the  missionary  treasury  in  any  church,  no  matter 
how  unpromising. — ^Rev.  George  Whitman,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 


IMMEDIATE 

RESPONSE 

The  immediate  effect  of  the  convention  held  in  our  city  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Laymen’s  Missionary  Movement  has  been  to  greatly 
stimulate  interest  among  my  men  in  missions.  Some  who  apparently 
had  no  interest  have  now  become  deeply  interested.  The  entire  church 
in  its  official  body  and  beyond,  have  been  so  quickened  that  there  was  no 
opposition  to  introducing  the  “week  by  week”  method  of  giving  to  mis¬ 
sions,  and  in  a  young  church  like  this  with  prospects  of  large  growth  that 
alone  means  much. — ^Rev.  A.  K.  Fuller,  Scranton,  Pa. 


7 


“ASHAMED  OF 

INDIFFERENCE  TO  MISSIONS” 

The  immediate  effect  upon  the  men  of  our  congregation  has  been  a 
very  wholesome  and  joyous  one.  Some  of  the  men  have  been  ashamed 
of  their  indifference  to  missions  and  of  their  scanty  support  of  the  work 
of  carrying  the  Gospel  to  the  distant  lands. 

At  a  men’s  banquet,  at  which  thirty-nine  men  were  present,  twenty- 
five  pledged  to  pay  $553  for  all  benevolent  purposes  in  1910  and  the  whole 
group  recommended,  that  the  church  raise  at  least  $1200  for  benevolences 
during  the  year  1910.  Our  usual  contributions  had  not  exceeded  $300- 
$400  for  all  benevolences  a  year,  so  this  gathering  was  one  of  great 
enthusiasm  and  inspiration  for  missions. 

We  are  planning  an  every  member  canvass  and  shall  introduce  the 
duplex  envelope  system  beginning  with  the  new  year. 

Remaining  true  to  our  pledges  and  plans,  we  are  sure  to  raise  more 
than  our  apportionment  to  the  societies.  The  German  churches  as 
you  know  have  always  been  faithful  to  their  trust.  It  will  interest  you 
to  know  that  the  men  are,  with  but  one  or  two  exceptions,  wage  earners, 
and  their  giving  will  mean  sacrifices  and  burning  devotion  to  the  King¬ 
dom  of  Gnd. 

When  I  consider  that  the  church  carries  an  indebtedness  of  $4500 
on  the  parsonage  recently  purchased,  these  new  pledges  and  plans  are  a 
source  of  great  hope  and  encouragement  for  the  future.  I  would  rather 
have  written  you  what  we  have  done,  than  what  we  mean  to  do  but  God 
help  us  to  remain  loyal  to  our  pledges. — Rev.  C.  A.  Daniel,  Buffalo, 
N.Y. 


8 


AN 

HONEST  EFFORT 


In  reply  to  your  letter  in  reference  to  the  Laymen’s  Missionary 
Movement,  I  would  say  that  I  believe  that  in  our  church  there  has  been  a 
decidedly  new  interest  aroused  in  mission  work.  Our  church  has  voted 
to  raise  the  budget  for  next  year  and  also  to  make  an  honest  effort  to  raise 
as  much  as  possible  of  the  apportionment  outlined  by  the  Laymen’s 
Movement.  We  shall  at  once  start  on  an  every-member  canvass  for 
missions,  and  shall  introduce  the  weekly  giving  for  missions  by  the  duplex 
envelope  method  January  first.  Our  church  never  raised  so  much  for 
missions  as  last  year  and  we  now  have  an  Italian  Department  of  work 
carried  on  in  our  church.  I  baptized  sixteen  Italians  last  year.  This 
work  is  flourishing.  All  of  this  interest  in  missions  has  not  hurt  the 
financial  side  of  the  work.  At  our  annual  meeting  the  other  night  the 
treasurer  reported  for  the  first  time  in  a  number  of  years  no  deficit,  and 
the  trustees  recommended  that  the  pastor’s  salary  be  increased  one 
hundred  dollars  this  year  which  was  unanimously  adopted.  Of  course 
I  shall  work  hard  for  missions  next  year;  it  pays. — ^Rev.  F.  W.  Stanton, 
Syracuse,  N.  Y. 


HUNDREDS  OF 
MEN  INTERESTED 

The  Laymen’s  Missionary  Convention  has  interested  hundreds  of 
our  men  in  missions,  many  of  them  gaining  an  adequate  view  of  their  mis¬ 
sionary  responsibility  for  the  first  time.  In  our  case,  several  by-products 
of  the  Convention  have  been  especially  noticeable,  including  an  enlarged 
fellowship  of  the  men  of  the  various  Baptist  churches  and  an  increased 
interest  in  Baptist  City  Missions.  My  own  church,  that  raised  less  than  a 
thousand  (which  includes  an  individual  gift  direct  to  the  Union),  will 
raise  $4700  during  the  coming  year. — Rev.  C.  D.  Case,  Ph.D.,  Buffalo, 
N.  Y. 


0 


“STIRRED 

UP” 


I  have  your  letters  of  inquiry  concerning  the  Laymen’s  Missionary 
Movement  Convention  and  its  effect  upon  our  church  and  the  churches  of 
the  city. 

In  reply,  I  may  say  that  the  immediate  effect  has  been  most  gratify¬ 
ing.  It  has  stimulated  the  men  of  our  churches  in  a  remarkable  way,  and 
has  done  much  to  develop  a  real  sense  of  brotherhood  among  the  churches, 
and  I  think  the  men  of  the  most  of  the  churches  are  stirred  up  toward  a 
much  larger  missionary  plan  than  they  have  ever  had  before.  As  to  our 
own  church,  our  apportionment  this  year  is  $440.  Our  men  decided 
that,  in  the  general  advance  in  giving  which  would  raise  $16,000  among 
the  Baptists  of  Cleveland,  our  fair  share  would  be  $1000.  We  gave  a 
good  deal  of  thought  as  to  whether  this  amount  should  be  raised  by  special 
appeal  or  through  our  regular  weekly  giving.  We  felt  that  to  make  a 
special  appeal  might  hamper  our  weekly  contribution  plan  which  we  are 
just  getting  well  under  way.  Consequently,  our  benevolent  committee 
has  made  out  a  budget  for  1910,  for  a  total  of  $2200.  Of  this  amount, 
thirty-eight  per  cent  will  go  to  foreign  mission  work,  and  with  some 
special  funds  which  we  may  secure  would  enable  us  to  raise  the  $1000. 

The  matter  was  presented  to  the  church  last  Sunday,  and  in  looking 
the  field  over  carefully  Monday,  we  find  that  we  have  thus  far,  what  we 
may  safely  count  on,  about  $1600  or  $1700,  and  I  think  our  prospects 
are  bright  for  raising  the  total  budget  of  $2200  for  all  missionary  en¬ 
deavor,  by  weekly  contributions  from  the  membership.  This  will  give 
us  a  contribution  of  about  $10  per  member  for  benevolences,  and  is  an 
increase  of  about  500  per  cent  over  what  the  church  did  five  years  ago. — 
Rev.  Millard  Brelsford,  East  Cleveland,  Ohio. 


10 


CONTAGIOUS 

ENTHUSIASM 


Your  letter  received  regarding  the  influence  of  the  Laymen’s  Mis¬ 
sionary  Convention.  It  has  been  a  great  blessing  to  our  city,  because  it 
brought  together  men  of  all  denominations,  and  gave  them  a  brighter 
vision  of  man’s  relationship  to  man  than  they  have  ever  had  before. 

In  answer  to  your  question  as  to  “what  has  been  the  immediate 
effect  of  this  convention  upon  your  men,  as  individuals,  and  as  a  group,” 
I  would  say  that  the  effect  upon  the  men — about  thirty  of  them  who  could 
come  to  the  sessions — ^was  deep  and  abiding.  They  in  turn  have  com¬ 
municated  their  enthusiasm  to  others,  so  I  feel  safe  in  saying  our  church 
has  received  a  great  uplift  in  its  spiritual  conception  of  world-wide  mis¬ 
sions.  Of  course  we  were  blessed  in  having  the  convention  sessions  in 
our  own  church. 

Second,  as  to  plans  of  apportionments.  Last  night  a  meeting  of 
the  pastors  and  missionary  conunittees — men— took  supper  together, 
and  afterward  discussed  the  proposition  and  I  found  that  there  is  a  strong 
Christian  movement  looking  toward  the  raising  not  only  of  the  apportion¬ 
ment  suggested  by  the  Northern  Baptist  Convention,  but  more  than 
that — the  probabihty  is  that  the  city  churches  will  advance  considerably 
beyond  the  apportionment  itself.  You  already  know  that  this  city  gave 
last  year  $3,163,  and  at  the  pastor’s  rally  held  during  the  convention 
determined  to  try  for  $10,000  the  coming  year.  Several  of  the  churches 
have  already  arranged  for  meetings  of  the  membership,  at  which  time  the 
question  of  finance  will  be  taken  up,  which  of  course  will  mean  the  boom¬ 
ing  of  the  foreign  missions.  Our  own  church  had  begun  already  its 
financial  campaign  and  had  sent  out  its  literary  cards,  etc.,  so  that  we  are 
in  a  position  awaiting.  Not  until  our  cards  are  returned  and  we  know 
what  amount  has  been  financially  subscribed  will  we  be  able  to  work 
intelligently  upon  those  who  do  not  thus  respond  at  all.  I  have  no  ques¬ 
tion  that  our  church  will  do  her  share,  as  heretofore,  and  more  than  her 
share.  I  hope  that  the  increase  will  not  be  simply  for  foreign  missions — 
much  as^my  heart  is  centered  along  that  line — ^and  my  hope  is  that  there 
will  be  a  marked  advancement  along  all  lines  of  beneficence. — M.  P. 
Pikes,  D.D.,  Detroit,  Mich. 


11 


EFFECT  OF  LAYMEN’S  CONVENTION 
ON  BAPTIST  CITY  MISSIONS 


The  Cleveland  Baptist  City  Mission  Society  is  alive  and  aggressive, 
doing  missionary  work  among  seven  nationahties  and  an  energetic 
Church  Extension  work,  as  well.  As  its  superintendent  I  may  fairly  be 
considered  as  interested  in  it  and  sensitive  to  anything  which  in  any  way 
threatens  its  interests. 

I  would  have  been  the  first  to  detect  anything  in  the  aim  or  the 
method  of  the  convention  that  was  inimical  to  home  interests.  I  would 
have  suspected  at  once  any  false  note  or  “lop-sidedness”  in  the  teaching 
of  the  leaders.  It  was  remarked,  when  we  were  in  conference  for  the 
denominational  rally,  that  this  was  going  to  be  hard  on  our  city  mission 
work.  After  the  convention  was  over  and  the  amount  of  $16,500  was 
pledged  by  the  Baptists  as  our  share  of  the  $160,000  which  Cleveland  was 
to  raise,  it  was  remarked  again  and  again  that  this  would  hurt  our  city 
mission  work. 

I  am  glad  to  say  that  so  far  as  I  can  see  not  only  has  no  ill  effect 
been  experienced,  but  a  most  decided  and  striking  blessing  has  followed. 
I  wish  to  cite  two  instances  which  prove  this. 

One  of  our  best  churches,  with  as  strong  a  group  of  laymen  as  can 
be  found  in  the  country,  and  with  a  pastor  alert  to  the  situation,  has 
experienced  nothing  less  than  a  revival  in  the  matter  of  benevolences. 
One  man  has  doubled  his  giving ;  another  who  gave  last  year  for  our  City 
Mission  work  $5,  and  whom  I  heard  prior  to  the  convention  refuse  to 
give  one  cent  to  any  missionary  work  until  he  had  made  good  his  losses 
suffered  in  the  panic  of  last  year,  gave  $50  on  a  recent  occasion  for  City 
Missions  and  for  other  things  in  proportion. 

The  churches  that  before  the  convention  had  adopted  the  duplex 
envelope,  I  have  found,  have  greatly  increased  their  offerings  for  City 
Missions,  and  now  several  of  our  churches  have  done  the  same  I  look  for 
the  same  result.  Perhaps  the  best  single  thing  is  one  illustration  that 
comes  from  one  of  our  church  extension  fields.  This  church  has  never 
given  much 'for  City  Missions,  having  been  too  well  content  to  get  all  it 
could  from  the  society.  We  asked  them  for  $50,  and  when  the  work  was 
presented  they  gave  nearly  a  hundred  in  one  service  and  will  make  it  an 
even  hundred.  This,  too,  since  pledging  about  four  times  as  much  as 
they  ever  raised  for  foreign  missions.  This  is  since  the  convention. — Rev. 
C.  A.  Brooks,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 


12 


A  CHECK 
WITH  A  HISTORY 


I  have  in  hand  this  morning,  a  check  from  a  young  business  man, 
who  was  at  the  Laymen’s  Convention,  and  who  has  never  made  a  direct 
gift  before,  and  as  the  entire  gift  of  the  church  to  which  he  belongs  has 
usually  amounted  to  about  $38, 1  do  not  think  he  could  have  given  a  very 
large  sum.  He  told  me  yesterday  that  he  was  going  to  send  this  gift,  as  an 
expression  of  the  interest  awakened  in  him  by  the  Laymen’s  Convention . 
The  check  is  for  $100.  He  is  a  young  man,  with  not  a  large  business,  and 
it  means  a  great  deal  for  him. — Rev.  F.  S.  Dobbins,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


“SOMETHING 

HEROIC” 

There  has  been  a  decided  awakening  in  the  cause  of  the  Kingdom 
on  the  part  of  my  men.  I  have  never  seen  the  same  determination  to 
do  something  heroic  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  over  the  world. 

We  have  divided  the  entire  church  membership  among  a  committee 
of  men  for  a  personal  canvass.  We  had  adopted  the  weekly  plan  of 
beneficence  before  so  that  we  are  fitting  this  in,  or  on,  it  in  any  way  we  can. 
Our  budget  amount  for  Foreign  Missions  for  this  year  was  $1925.  As  a 
result  of  this  Laymen’s  Convention  we  are  planning  to  raise  $4300. — 
H.  F.  Stillwell,  D.D.,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 


IS 


“BAPTISTS 
IN  ACTION” 


Following  up  the  inspiration  of  the  Laymen’s  Missionary  Movement 
two  weeks  ago,  the  denominations  are  having  missionary  campaigns  all 
over  town.  Tonight  the  Baptist  committee  met  to  consider  how  they 
could  raise  four  times  as  much  missionary  money  as  in  1908-0. 

The  results  of  that  three-day  meeting  two  weeks  ago  are  astound¬ 
ing.  Suburban  towns  are  holding  dinner  meetings  for  men,  two  or  three 
every  night,  and  laymen  from  BufPalo  are  addressing  these  meetings, 
calling  for  and  getting  double  and  treble  the  amount  of  previous  of¬ 
ferings.  The  grandest  hopes  of  clergy  and  laymen  are  being  realized 
and  exceeded:  $100,000  was  pledged  to  foreign  missions  Tuesday, 
October  19,  of  which  the  Baptists  took  $15,000,  as  against  about  $4,000 
last  year.  Of  the  $100,000,  over  $19,000  is  subscribed  by  individuals 
voluntarily  and  in  advance  of  church  canvasses,  and  one  church  has 
guaranteed  $6,000. 

About  ten  days  before  the  convention  we  began  to  sit  up  and  take  notice 
and  then  things  began  to  fly.  Since  the  convention  we  have  been  making 
plans  for  extending  the  influence  of  the  convention  into  all  of  the  Buffalo 
territory,  which  covers  a  radius  of  about  one  hundred  miles  from  the  city. 
Mass  meetings  of  men  are  being  held  in  all  the  surrounding  towns,  and 
the  Buffalo  men  are  addressing  them  along  missionary  lines  and  encourag¬ 
ing  them  to  adopt  some  definite  scheme  of  missionary  education,  and  at 
the  same  time  urging  much  larger  contributions. 

In  the  city  the  Baptist  men  have  got  together  as  quickly  as  they 
could.  It  is  true  that  many  of  the  Baptist  men  had  to  disregard  denomi¬ 
national  lines  in  the  general  effort  of  the  Laymen’s  Missionary  Committee 
outside  the  city.  We  got  together  last  Saturday  night,  however,  and 
after  a  four-hour  discussion  it  was  decided  to  put  the  whole  matter 
squarely  before  all  the  Baptist  people  of  the  city  in  printed  form,  and  our 
issue  of  “Baptists  in  Action”  is  the  result  of  our  effort.  Personally  I 
hope  that  a  further  issue  of  this  paper  may  be  distributed  in  a  month  or 
two  showing  progress,  and  that  a  grand  jubilee  of  all  the  Baptist  men  of 
Buffalo  and  the  surrounding  towns  can  be  arranged  for,  in  six  weeks  or 
so,  at  which  time  it  may  be  reported  that  our  grandest  expectations  have 
been  realized. — J.  W.  Noble,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 


14 


“CONVERTED  TO 
FOREIGN  MISSIONS” 

The  effect  of  the  convention  on  my  men  was  a  great  inspiration  to 
those  who  attended.  One  man  said  he  was  converted  to  foreign  missions 
through  it.  Two  others,  I  think  from  what  I  know  of  them,  were  helped 
to  a  decision  to  devote  one-tenth  of  their  income  to  the  work  of  the  Lord. 

We  have  decided  as  a  church  to  do  what  I  have  wanted  the  church 
to  do  ever  since  I  came  to  them,  take  our  offerings  for  missions  weekly. 
This  decision  came  just  before  the  convention.  We  are  planning  now 
to  make  a  canvass  of  every  member  for  a  subscription  for  missions.  I 
do  not  think  we  can  reach  our  apportionment  by  the  last  of  March,  as  we 
begin  our  weekly  offerings  with  January.  But  we  will  get  in  shape  so 
that  after  this  I  hope  we  can  do  more  than  our  apportionment. — Rev. 
M.  H.  Pettit,  Detroit,  Mich. 


“WE  SHALL  DO 
OUR  LEVEL  BEST” 

The  immediate  effect  of  the  Laymen’s  Missionary  Conference, 
recently  held  in  our  city,  has  been  that  several  of  our  laymen  have  become 
more  deeply  interested  in  the  work  of  missions. 

The  second  result  has  been  that  we  have  already  formulated  plans 
for  making  a  thorough  canvass  of  the  membership  of  our  church,  with  a 
view  of  securing  weekly  contributions  to  Foreign  Missions,  as  well  as  to 
the  current  expenses  of  the  church;  and  have  also  agreed  to  make  up  our 
full  apportionment,  as  assigned  to  us  by  the  Northern  Baptist  Convention. 
The  amount  assigned  to  our  church  and  that  we  shall  attempt  to  raise  for 
Foreign  Missions  is  $1700,  as  against  about  $979,  raised  last  year.  We 
shall  do  our  level  best  to  secure  this  amount,  and,  if  possible,  more. — 
Rev.  W.  W.  Dawley,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 


15 


SOME 

DEFINITE  PLEDGES 


It  may  be  interesting  to  know  what  the  Baptist  men  of  twelve 
centers  propose  to  do  as  a  result  of  the  recent  Laymen’s  Mission¬ 
ary  Movement  Conventions  held  in  as  many  cities.  The  figures 
in  the  first  column  are  round  numbers,  but  sufficiently  accurate 
for  purposes  of  comparison. 


Gave  for 


Propose  to  give 


Cities 

Foreign  Missions 

for  Foreign  Mi, 

1908-1909 

1909-1910 

Buffalo 

$4,025 

$15,000 

Cleveland 

5,307 

16,800 

Worcester 

1,976 

3,200 

Washington 

7,639 

15,000 

Philadelphia 

27,248 

45,000 

Harrisburg 

185 

370 

Scranton 

1,300 

2,000 

Hartford 

2,079 

3,300 

Portland 

1,112 

1,500 

Reading 

298 

600 

Detroit 

3,163 

10,000 

Syracuse 

2,979 

6,000 

$57,311 

$118,770 

Lest  it  be  felt  that  the  foregoing  may  indicate  that  home 
missions  will  lose  by  these  pledges  for  foreign  missions  it  should 
be  remembered  that  in  each  convention  a  vote  has  been  passed 
that  these  sums  for  foreign  missions  would  be  secured  in  addition 
to  the  amounts  which  the  Budget  of  1909-1910  asks  for  the  Home 
Mission  Society  and  the  Publication  Society.  On  this  point  a 
prominent  city  missionary  wrote  as  follows : 

“No’^man  ever  had  a  vision  ofJChrist  and 
his  Kingdom  who  failed  to  see  the  whole  world. 

No  man  can  be  really  interested  in  the  man 
across  the  water  and  be  indifferent  to  the  man 
across  the  way.” 

16 


894-1  Ed.-20  M-Jan.  ’10. 


